Odalisque

Odalisque sipping beer is the portrait of an ex-lover who had many hairdressing fashionista friends. One day he allowed one such friend complete carte blanche. The result was a fascinating asymmetrical windswept-styled coiffure of many layers, levels and false parts. I drew him lost in thought lounging on my bed in my Plateau Montréal apartment.

In this piece, I am playing with the notion of the odalisque in nineteenth century European art, reversing the traditional order by offering an “exotic” white male figure for the black female gaze. The clothing and comforter designs are inspired by influences from my family culture, and include references to the do-it-yourself craft climate of the 1970’s, William Morris, Japanese and African patterning. Integral to this work is the saying , “evil travels in straight lines”. In homage to this idea and to confuse the evil spirits, I have incorporated multiple designs with frequent breaks in the composition.